This invention relates to a heat recovery apparatus. A heat recovery apparatus may comprise a heat transfer space having a gas inlet and a gas outlet and in which at least two separate heat exchangers are arranged successively in the gas flow direction, as well as at least two separate heat transfer medium flow circuits. This kind of heat transfer apparatus provides advantageous heat transfer from a gas flow containing impurities.
The invention relates also to a method of operating a heat recovery apparatus, which method is effective to minimize fouling in a the heat recovery apparatus.
Utilization of heat recovery in order to recover energy from hot gases is commonly known and is beneficial. However, hot gases typically contain various impurities, the nature of which depends on the origin of the hot gases. For example a considerable amount of hot gas is generated in operation of a heat engine and the combustion gases contain various impurities, for example soot and condensable components such as hydrocarbons, depending on the fuel used in the engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,209 shows an automatic programmable cleaning system for heat exchange tubes of a waste heat boiler. For removing deposits from surfaces of the heat exchange tubes, it is suggested to spray water intermittently into the hot gas flow, whereby the soot that is removed is carried along with the exhaust gases out of the boiler. However, this kind of method is not suitable for general use. Further, evaporating the water consumes the energy of the gas, and the water consumption and the need for maintenance also affects the serviceability of the method.
It is of great importance that the heat transfer surfaces of the exhaust gas boiler of a combustion engine should be clean, in order to maintain efficiency, but it has been observed that these boilers tend to foul rapidly. In connection with state of the art combustion engines, and specifically with installations in which the combustion gases contain condensable components, for example hydrocarbons, as may be the case with gas engines, it may be necessary to clean the heat transfer surfaces as frequently as every 500 hours. Specifically, when the heat is recovered at different temperature levels, and condensation takes place especially in the last heat transfer stage on heat exchanger surfaces at lower temperatures, the efficiency of heat transfer decreases rapidly. In this kind of installation, the cleaning of the heat exchanger operating at lower temperature is accomplished in practice by emptying the heat exchangers, whereby its temperature may rise. This causes the condensable components in question to become soft (or melt) and drain down away from heat exchanger surfaces. However, this procedure may decrease the efficiency of heat recovery because during the cleaning operation, which may take approximately 8 hours, heat is not recovered by the heat exchanger in question. Further, the need to empty the heat exchanger may in some cases impose demands with respect to its material and construction, specifically due to the fact that being uncooled, its temperature may rise to a higher level than would be desirable. In that case also there is a risk of boiler fire.
In order to maintain the efficiency of heat recovery at an adequately high level and generally to maintain the equipment in an optimal operating state, the heat transfer surfaces must be kept clean by regular cleansing. Various methods and devices for this purpose are known from the prior art, but they still include many restrictions and may be inadequate with respect to their operation.
It is an object of the invention to provide a heat recovery apparatus and method, by means of which it is possible to improve the state of the art and minimize the before mentioned and other problems of the prior art.
In an embodiment of the invention, the heat recovery apparatus comprises a heat transfer space having a gas inlet and a gas outlet and in which at least two separate heat exchangers have been provided successively in the gas flow direction, as well as at least two separate heat transfer circuits. The apparatus also comprises means for altering the direction of gas flow in the heat transfer apace and mean; for connecting each heat transfer circuit selectively to either of the at least two separate heat exchangers. This embodiment is specifically suitable for heat recovery from gases containing sticky, adhesive components, such as condensable hydrocarbons.
In this case, for example in connection with a gas engine operating in accordance with the Otto cycle, when the heat transfer circuits are operating at different temperature levels, such that thee temperature level of the gas before entering a heat exchanger connected to a first heat transfer circuit is typically 350-450xc2x0 C. and after a heat exchanger connected to a second heat transfer circuit is typically 180-200xc2x0 C., and as the heat transfer circuits operate typically at temperature level of, on average 60xe2x80x94100xc2x0 C., it is possible to provide an arrangement in which, after the heat transfer surfaces have become fouled, specifically through condensation of hydrocarbons, to an excessive level, or otherwise when desired, the mode of operation of the apparatus may be altered as will be described in following.
The heat recovery apparatus in accordance with the invention preferably includes a heat transfer space, which comprises two parallel flow ducts, each of which contains at least one heat exchanger and which flow ducts abut at their other ends on a common space.
The present invention provides distinct benefits compared to the prior art. Firstly, the method is very effective compared for example to cleaning by water, which does not have much effect on deposits formed by condensed hydrocarbons. Additionally the cleaning of the heat transfer surfaces is done during the normal operation, whereby there is substantially no interference with the heat recovery. Further, there are no heat losses due to evaporation of cleaning water. Thus, by means of the present invention the heat exchangers can be maintained especially clean, since the change of the mode of the operation may be done always according to the need without impairing the operation. Additionally the present invention does not consume any additional agent for cleaning and also wearing of parts is minimized.